Easy Garden Tips for Beginners

For many people, gardening is one of their most enjoyable hobbies. Those who have a novice green thumb may not know the ins-and-outs to a fertile garden. If you are unsure of where to begin, start here to ponder about the garden of your dreams.

Prepare Your Soil
The first step to starting a garden is to prep the soil. First time gardeners can use soil, compost or peat moss to go straight into the bed to promote plant growth. The cheaper option is to rototill the soil, which can be rented from a home and garden shop. Once tilled, gardeners use a kit, which analyzes the soil. This helps gardeners understand what type of nutrients the soil has and how to fertilize.

Choose Your Plants
Gardeners must decide whether to plant a vegetable, flowerbed, or both. For flowers, gardeners have two choices: perennials and annuals. Annuals are beneficial for those who love a specific plant and want them to bloom each year. Perennials are ideal for those who like variety and can re-plant various species each year.

Know What is InvasiveSome plants are invasive and grow like wildfire. Some invasive plants spread quickly and far, ending up in the neighbors’ lawn. Plants such as blackberry, raspberry bushes, and bamboo are wonderful, but hard to maintain especially when spreading to other areas.

Water NeedsEach plant is different and local nursery staff can share better recommendations. Usually beginner gardeners over water seeds and plants. Overwatering leads to an immature root system for newly planted seeds. Gently water freshly planted seeds and once the plant blooms keep an eye if the leaves are wilting during extreme heat, an indication for water.

Location of Garden
If the bed is not already in a particular destination, plant the garden where six to eight hours of sunshine is visible. However, if plants are more shady species, gardeners will have to revamp the garden based on the plant needs.

Weed the GardenOnce the plants bloom, weeds also flourish. Keep weeds to a minimum with weeding for 10 to 15 minutes a couple days per week. This leads to better maintenance rather than a long two to four hour project of deep weeding. Mulching the garden keeps weeds to a minimum.